


Just Breathe

by RogueRoulette



Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mother Hen Steve Rogers, Tony Feels, Tony probably needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 07:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3560573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueRoulette/pseuds/RogueRoulette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony was relaxed and at ease, finally able to breathe freely without the smothering of his team. They were set to start returning within the next few hours and to be honest, Tony was dreading it. He was dreading suddenly being thrown back into the thick of all that constant noise.<br/>He glanced up at the clock on the wall and watched as the second hand ticked by, each second bringing him closer to the end of his mini vacation. With each second, the tension bled back into his stance and his shoulders tensed. He rolled his lower lip between his teeth before coming to a decision.<br/>“Jarvis, do me a favor and ready the suit.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Another quick Steve/Tony oneshot. I freaking love these two married assholes, I can't help it. Anyway, I don't won Marvel or the Movies or anything except the grammatical mistakes. Pardon those if you don't mind; even with it being my native tongue, the English language is a general asshole that likes to change its rules for random instances. Drop a kudos or a review if you like what you see, any acknowledgement feeds my artistic fire, even if it's to yell about inappropriate usage of mainstream characters.

The silence echoed through the tower beautifully, Tony’s thoughts finally audible to his own ears. The rest of the team was pleasantly absent, each member off on their own personal excursion. Clint and Natasha were off running a SHEILD mission, Thor was in Asgard doing his princely duties, and Steve was running after a lead on his best friend, Bucky, with his new friend Sam, and Bruce was out reconvening with nature. Tony had the tower to himself and for the first time in what felt like months, he could really breathe again. A tightness in his chest settled and the ringing in his ears was gone. He could think without someone’s constant chatter interrupting the process. 

He headed into his lab, Jarvis opening the last projects he had been working on, along with projects that the team had mentioned needed upgrading. AC/DC blared through the speakers at ear shattering volumes, the room vibrating with the strength of the bass. Tony rolled his shoulders easily and pulled down one of the projects, his mind already racing.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tony didn’t have a clue how long it had been before he came out of his science binge with the rumble of his empty stomach. He groaned lowly as he closed all of the work and shut down the bright blue hologram. He jogged up the stairs to the next floor, the sound of his music following him upwards and into the common rooms. He grinned at the sound of his speakers bouncing off the kitchen walls. It was nice to be able to blast music at his own pleasure in any room without having to think if it would bother one of his roommates. It was great to be able to decide when he would get out to eat even if it wasn’t until, Tony glanced over at the clock, 3 am.

It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy his team mates company. They had become like family to him these past few months and he loved their company. It was just, Tony had been alone for as long as he could remember. He’d been by himself long before his parents passed away, his only real company coming in the form of his butler Jarvis. His parents never played him much mind, too busy with the company and the fundraising, so he’d raised himself. He was so used to being the only voice in the room that sometimes it overwhelmed his to hear 5 more echoing behind him. It was tiring, all the noise that came with the Avengers. Thor was naturally loud voiced, no matter how much he had been taught to turn it down in the face of four walls and close comrades. Clint constantly roamed the house, clanging about in the vents and dropping from strange places at any moment. One day, he was going to give Tony a heart attack. Bruce was constantly in the lab, pattering around with his various science experiments and throwing Tony from whatever grove he had managed to find. Natasha was quiet enough, but the sound of her hair dryer in the bathroom was unmistakable. Steve was probably one of the worst offenders with the constant hovering over Tony’s shoulder, voicing his concerns over Tony’s health or the team. They drug him out of his work for dinner and movie nights, and while he enjoyed them enough, it irritated him to have to loss some of that well made progress.

The team was great, don’t get him wrong. He and Clint got along like a house on fire, occasionally actually setting the house on fire. Natasha had grown on Tony, her presence, while terrifying, was comforting. Thor, well everyone loved him. He was like a giant golden retriever; he was hard to hate. Bruce was his science-bro and the shenanigans they got up to were legendary among the science community. Steve, well Steve was Tony’s favorite. A blind man could see how head-over heels in love they were with each other. They just became too much too fast and the noise grated on Tony’s ears and set his teeth on edge. The silence soothed those frayed nerves.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It had been a week, one bliss filled week and Tony had gotten more work done then he had in the past month and a half. Tony was relaxed and at ease, finally able to breathe freely without the smothering of his team. They were set to start returning within the next few hours and to be honest, Tony was dreading it. He was dreading suddenly being thrown back into the thick of all that constant noise. 

He glanced up at the clock on the wall and watched as the second hand ticked by, each second bringing him closer to the end of his mini vacation. With each second, the tension bled back into his stance and his shoulders tensed. He rolled his lower lip between his teeth before coming to a decision.  
“Jarvis, do me a favor and ready the suit.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve was the last of the team to return, tossing his bag to the floor upon leaving the elevator. He looked up at the rest of the team gathered in the living room with a grin and a wave. The rest of the team grinned at him before returning to what he was doing. Steve glanced about with a frown, noting the absence of the resident genius.

“Hey Jarvis, where’s Tony?”

“He is not here, Captain Rogers.”

Steve’s frown deepened. “Where did he go?”

“Jarvis won’t tell us.” Clint answered. “He’s been gone since we got here. Apparently left a few hours before we got back. Left willingly in his suit, so we weren’t going to worry about it too much. He was nice enough to leave a note.”

“That’s strange. No one has contacted him?”

“Don’t know where he went and he turned his phone off. Figured if he didn’t want to talk to us so badly, we should probably give him some space. If we didn’t hear anything by this weekend, Jarvis agreed to give us his location. Jarvis is with him and promised to alert us if something goes south.” Bruce answered. Steve bit his lip in response, his worry evident in his eyes.

“I just.”

“Trust us Steve, we get it.” Natasha piped up. “But it’s not like we can do much about it. Whatever is going on with him, he doesn’t want us involved. He wants to deal on his own and we can only trust he knows we’re here if he needs us to be.”

Steve nodded. “Well, I guess I’ll go unpack then.” He grabbed his bag and hauled it over his shoulder, stepping back into the elevator and hitting the button for Tony and his shared floor. As the elevator rose, he slipped his phone from his pocket and hit the one on his speed dial. The phone in his hand didn’t ring, skipping straight to voice mail.

“If you have this number you know who I am. Leave a message and I’ll get back to ya.”

“Hey Tony, it’s me. Thought I’d call and let you know I’m at the tower and see if you wanted to talk about whatever is bothering you. I get you obviously need space but I’m here if you need me. It goes the same for the rest of the team. I hope you’re ok. Call me, just so I know you’re safe? Love you.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Steve sighed as he hung the phone up for the 6th time in an hour, the worry eating at his heart like acid. Clint glanced up at his from his set, taking in the pacing with an understanding glance. 

“Everyone is worried Steve, but we need to give him space. He still has until tomorrow to call.”

Steve frowned as Natasha grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the couch next to her, running her hand through his hair. “Tony will call. Just give him some time.” Steve sighed again, trying to force his shoulders into relaxing. Behind him, the elevator doors whisked open and the steady click of heels approached the room. Steve looked up, his eyes taking in the power suit and ginger hair.

“Jarvis told me what’s going on. You’ve apparently called Tony 6 times in the past hour?”

“I’m worried. Haven’t heard from him in over a week and.”

Pepper held up a hand, a knowing look in her eyes. “You’re worried. I get it. I’m here to tell you to stop worrying. This isn’t the first time Tony has done this. Just give him some space.”

“That’s all we’ve done!” Steve exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. “We’ve given him as much space as we could but he hasn’t called in over a week and we don’t know where he is and Jarvis won’t tell us anything. We have no idea what’s going on with him or what we could have done to upset him.”

“Steve.” Pepper said gently. “Trust me, I understand. But it’s not anything you did. Tony Needs space. He’s feeling overwhelmed.”

“Overwhelmed by what?”

“You. The team. You have to understand Steve, Tony has been alone just about all his life. From the moment he was old enough to put himself to bed, he’s been alone. His dad was too concerned with liquor and the company and finding you. His mom was too far into the publicity of it all and her fundraising to pay much more attention to him. He’s been raising himself and all this noise gets to him. He did this when we were dating too. He’s always been doing this, taking off for a few weeks when it gets to be too much. He just needs some time to breathe and be by himself. Sort out his thoughts.”

“I just wish he’d call and tell us he was ok.”

“He’s fine. If he’s in trouble, Jarvis will let us know.”

“Do you know where he is?”

Pepper narrowed her eyes at him. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to go after him. Leave him alone.” She looked around to see the room full of nods and sighed. “I almost didn’t believe it myself. If I didn’t have access to where his money goes these days, I would probably never have known. He’s got a house in Colorado of all places. Nothing happens in Colorado and it’s the last place you’d expect to see Tony Stark, so I guess I get why he chose there. He’s gone to some pretty far lengths to make sure no one knows about it. I mean everyone knows he lives in New York and he sold his Malibu address to the press and a terrorist on the news, so it’s not like he can go anywhere else. He doesn’t even let the pizza guy in. He bought the entire pizza complex so that they couldn’t give out his address and so he could ensure the same pizza guy. It’s a tiny town, so if it wasn’t for his satellite systems, he wouldn’t even have Wi-Fi. He’s gone about as far away as he can.”

“So what do we do?”

“You don’t do anything.” She looked over at Clint. “When did he leave?”

“Jarvis said he left about an hour before Nat and I got back.”

Natasha nodded. “So he’s been gone just under a week. Give him a few more. He’ll come back on his own in 2 weeks, 3 tops.”

“How can you be so sure?” Steve asked, insecurity leaking through his voice. Pepper smiled at him fondly.

“He likes you guys. Thinks of you as family. If he didn’t like you, he’d have kicked you out by now. He certainly wouldn’t eat dinner, or stop working for movie night, or make such nice things for you guys. Eventually, the silence will start to bother him. Vacation gets old after a while and he will come home. Just give him some time.”

Steve nodded again, Natasha still running a hand through his hair comfortingly. “I just hope he’s OK.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tony spun around in his chair, the lab spinning into a blur in his vision. He sighed as he came to a stop, leaning forward his hands on the lab table.

“I don’t get what I’m missing.” He whispered. “Hey J, see if Bruce can come down and take a look for me.”

“Mister Banner isn’t here. Would you like me to call him?” Jarvis replied, what sounded like hope echoing in his metallic voice. Tony’s face fell as he recalled.

“No, it’s fine J. I should just get back to work.”

“As you wish sir. You should call Mister Rogers though, he is worried about you.”

Tony’s heart ached at the sound of his lover’s name. “I call him in a bit.” 

Tony threw himself head first in to the work, eager to get the new tech back to R&D for testing and then out onto the market. The new line of tablets was going to make the profit, which would get investors and the board off his back, and he could focus on Nat’s new widow bites, which would put his nerves at ease. After she had attempted to put down the bilgsnipe a few weeks ago, anxiety has eaten at Tony at the idea of her being vulnerable. Not that she couldn’t handle it, Tony just didn’t like seeing his people hurt, and that’s what the Avengers were. His people.

After who knows how long, Tony pushed away from the table and glanced at the clock.

“Huh. 11 pm already? Why didn’t Steve come down and get me for movie night?”

“Sir, you are not in New York. He wouldn’t have been able to get you for movie night. Would you like me to call Mister Rogers?”

“No thanks J. I should probably head to bed. I’ve been at this for hours anyway.”

“As you wish sir.”

Tony clambered up from his seat, his back popping slowly, joint by joint. He’d kill for Nat’s shoulder rubs right about now. She was surprisingly good with them, gentle but firm. Clint always made a big fuss about Tony getting one but not him. Before long, Tony would be a puddle of relaxed goo on the couch and Clint would making obscure noises from his position on the floor until Steve blushed and Natasha hit him upside the head and finished her full on back massage. Thor would make some remark about The Lady Natasha’s skilled fingers and Bruce would recall his time learning acu-yoga. Tony’s heart lurched as he thought about his team. He stepped into his room and threw himself head first onto his bed. He rolled this way and that in hopes of finding a comfortable place, but his bed felt too big, so empty, and his blankets weren’t warm enough. He thought about Steve, sleeping alone in their bed back at the tower. Tony could imagine coming to bed and Steve would glance up at him sleepily. Tony would climb under the sheets and Steve would wrap himself around Tony, allowing him to tuck his head into the chook of Steve’s neck and just breathe his scent in until he fell into a comfortable sleep.

“Hey Jarvis? What’s the team doing?”

“Sir, it’s currently 1am in New York. Mister Rogers, Banner, Odinson, and Barton are all asleep. Miss Romanova seems to be in the kitchen.”

“Oh.” Tony replied with a frown. He wondered what was keeping Natasha up, if Steve had been sleeping well. What movie did they watch today? Did they even watch one? What was for dinner? What did they think about his absence? Tony was beginning to miss them, the quiet turning from calm and relaxing, to suffocating and anxiety inducing. Tony wasn’t sleeping well, his nightmares coming freely without the sounds of Steve’s even breathing to fight them off.

“Hey Jarvis?”

“Yes sir.”

“I want to go home.”

“Very well sir.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tony stepped out of the elevator quietly, looking around the room as he stepped up to the door. He had stopped at the main floor, checking to see if anyone was out and about. Natasha had apparently gone to bed, the kitchen was empty as was the living room, and the sound of someone abusing the downstairs gym equipment was missing. He instead headed up to his and Steve’s floor, eager to see its other occupant. He stepped into his room quietly, careful not to wake Steve, and simply watched. There was a frown on Steve’s face, a crinkling that said more about Steve’s ability to sleep then anytime he spent beating punching bags into submission. Steve was obviously worried and guilt struck at the space beneath Tony’s arcreactor at the knowledge that he had worried Steve so much. Tony stripped out of his clothes, leaving his in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, and eased carefully under the sheets of his bed. The other occupant shuffled about, his sleep filled blue eyes opening curiously.

“Tony?” he asked, voice heavy.

Tony smiled at him. “Hey Steve. I’m sorry I worried you. And that I didn’t call. I should have called, I just.”

Steve laid a gentle hand of Tony’s cheek, thumb brushing gently.

“It’s ok Tony. I understand. I’m just glad you’re home.”

“Yeah. I just…needed space.”

“I understand. Pepper explained everything. I hadn’t realized everyone was quite so… smothering.”

“It’s not like that. It’s just. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by everybody being right there, ya know? It’s like there isn’t any room to breathe because everyone is always there in your space and I’m not used to seeing the same people every day and I just... needed a break.”

“Why did you decide to come back tonight?”

“I was sitting in my lab and I couldn’t figure something out and I asked Jarvis to fetch Bruce for me. Only to be reminded I wasn’t in New York. I went back to work and a few hours later I remembered movie night and why hadn’t you come to get me? Jarvis reminded me yet again I wasn’t at home. Figured I needed sleep so I headed up to bed and all I could think about was you and the team. What were you guys doing? Did you have movie night without me? What did you guys watch? Did you sleep well while I was gone? How many times did you call? I got itchy because it was so quiet and the bed as too big and the sheets too cold and all the things that I had enjoyed about being alone started to bother me and I couldn’t breathe there anymore and I didn’t want to go to sleep or back to work. I just wanted to come home.”

Steve smiled sleepily, pulling gently on Tony’s arm until he was tucked neatly under Steve’s chin. He ran his fingers gently up Tony’s back, through his hair, and back down again. He pressed a gentle kiss to the top Of Tony’s head.

“I’m glad you’re home. I missed you.”  
“I missed you, too. I listened to all your messages on the way over. I hadn’t thought about how much I worried you guys.”

“Like I said,” he replied with a yawn. “It’s alright. We understand. Just next time, call every once in a while? Just to let us know you’re ok.”

“Yeah. I can do that…. Hey Steve?”

“Mhm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Tony. Get some sleep.”

Tony smiled gently as he snuggled into Steve’s warm side, tangling their legs together. He breathed in his sharp scent and felt the tension bleed from his shoulders. It was good to be home. It was good to breathe again.


End file.
